Ann’s natter

Yes, honestly – it really is a month since we last met. Time seems to be galloping ahead. I’ve stopped putting off til tomorrow etc because when ‘tomorrow’ descends on me, there are more boxes than ever to tick. Still, better to have more than less to fill the days.

Julie and her Falcon Lodge class were on Facebook on the 8th. It showed quite clearly what a good time everyone was having. You can’t smile like that if you’re not happy. It set me thinking about the Move It phenomena; Julie started her classes in 2007 and the DVDs were first produced in 2010. And what a fast-growing organisation it is now with classes being held in:

Birmingham, Cheltenham, Caernarvon, Tewkesbury, Burton on Trent, Northumberland, Bootle, Merseyside, Crosby, Aldridge, Torquay, Teignmouth, Dawlish, Kingsteignton, Newton Abbot, Edinburgh, Linlithgow, Market Harborough and more. Several classes a week are held in some of these locations. And courses for new instructors are fully booked up to 3 months ahead. Can you imagine all the hard work needed to make all this wonderful magic happen? We have much for which to thank the whole Move It organisation. We’re happier and healthier because of our weekly ‘medicine’ !!

Also on the 8th, I was at the monthly U3A meeting where the speaker was from the RSPB on the topic of Garden Birds. I can’t say I was expecting too much in the way of interest but how wrong I was. The speaker was a real comedian and rather than bore us with statistics, we were treated to a film with all the wonderful bird songs recorded on site. Ten different species were shown and I realised how little I know about what’s happening in my own back yard. It did make my fingers itch thinking about the garden and the longer and hopefully warmer days ahead. I did get quite excited during the month as I hung the washing out for the first time this year; perhaps I should get out more. I’m also looking forward to April when my front garden is going to be dramatically altered. My neighbour has just had some changes to her garden and no, it’s not a question of ‘Keeping up with the Jones’s’. She and I have planned these changes over the past year and think we might have got a bit of a bogoff from the contractor.

On the 13th I went to my Creative Writing group and we were given the task of writing a poem on the subject of what we would miss because of global warming. I’m afraid mine is far from humorous which is what I produce for the natter. Perhaps I’ll include it next month.

I had a real treat on 17th/19th. My son took me to Aberystwyth because my granddaughter is at the university there. It was lovely to have someone else arranging hotel and travel etc. and of course I had him all to myself for 3 days. He knows the town extremely well so I had my own guide too. I’m assured that there aren’t any mountains in Aberystwyth but I’m certain that I walked up several during my stay. I must be fit because the pace was fast and furious. Each raindrop (yes of course it rained – we were in Wales!) was as big as a dinner plate but it didn’t matter one bit. Such a lovely time.

My awareness date for April has two-fold importance. 23rd April is St. George’s Day. Co-incidentally it’s not only the date of Shakespeare’s birth in 1564 but the date of his death in 1616. I know Shakespeare isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but he’s still an important figure in history.